Only Wanted to Kill You with Zero Risk

The man who spoke was tall and burly, his eyes glowing with a sinister green light. He looked as though he had Chen An? Wait glossary Xie An. He looked as though he had Xie An firmly in his grasp.

It was obvious that they were vicious bandits who regularly robbed merchants and travelers in this area. They had already marked Xie An when he was at Yong'an Pawnshop and followed him all the way here. After confirming that the two of them were fat sheep from the countryside with no backing, they had bared their fangs.

There was another possibility... this gang of bandits and Yong'an Pawnshop were in league with each other.

Xie An felt utterly speechless. He had thought coming to the county town to do business would be much safer. Who would have thought... the danger was not inside the town, but outside it?

The two sides were more than ten meters apart. Although Xie An's five senses were far sharper than before, he still could not discern his opponents' strength. He clenched the dagger concealed in his right sleeve and remained on high alert.

Seeing that Xie An had not spoken, Chen He, standing nearby, assumed he had been intimidated. Gritting his teeth, he jumped down from the carriage, took out a small ten-tael silver ingot, placed it on the ground, and cupped his hands with an ingratiating smile.

"Three heroes, I'm Chen He, younger brother of Chen Lei, the master of Chen Martial Arts School in Wuqiao Town. Please, show us some mercy."

Chen Martial Arts School was the only martial arts school in Wuqiao Town and was quite famous in several nearby townships. Whenever Chen He went out and encountered minor bandits, introducing himself usually had a certain deterrent effect. After giving them some loose silver and offering a couple of smiles, the bandits generally would not make things too difficult for him.

But today was an exception.

The tall man who had spoken earlier suddenly burst out laughing. "A San, have you ever heard of this so-called Chen Martial Arts School?"

The man on his left was named A San. He shook his head and sneered. "Brother Wei, our Giant Whale Gang only recognizes the four great martial arts schools in the county town. As for the rest... they're nothing but rabble, not worth mentioning."

The moment Xie An heard them volunteer their identities, he knew they had no intention of letting him live.

It was just like a hostage seeing the kidnapper's face...

Sure enough—

The man called Brother Wei wore an even more mocking smile. "You think ten taels of silver will get you through this? Are you trying to fob us off like beggars? A San, Wang Wu, stop wasting your breath on these two rotten old men. Just butcher them. The money will all be ours."

Clang! Clang!

A San and Wang Wu drew their blades one after another. The blades scraped against the mouths of their sheaths, sending sparks flying. Under the moonlight, the sight was especially chilling.

"Please spare us, sirs! I've given you all my money."

Sensing that the three men were about to attack, Xie An jumped down from the carriage in "terror" and tremblingly took out five large silver ingots from his bundle, displaying them before the three men.

Though it was the dead of night, the full moon hung high overhead. Its pure light poured down, making the silver gleam brightly.

Sure enough, when the three bandits saw the dazzling large silver ingots, they did not hurry to attack. Instead, greed appeared on their faces.

From the corner of his eye, Xie An saw the greed in the three men's expressions. He decided that they looked like men who had not seen much of the world and were probably no notorious outlaws.

With that thought, Xie An began making his calculations, but his face grew even more "frightened." "I'll give you these five big ingots. Could you spare this old man's life?"

The three men were quite pleased by Xie An's terrified attitude. The man called A San said, "Hurry up and throw the silver over."

The Giant Whale Gang was a vicious criminal gang that specialized in lying in wait nearby to rob merchants without any backing. Though the three men had been robbing people for years, this was the first time they had encountered a fat sheep like Xie An, carrying a fortune of two hundred and fifty taels.

After all, anyone bold enough to leave the city late at night carrying such a fortune usually had some backing and would bring armed retainers.

Today, they had truly struck a fat sheep.

No wonder they were so excited.

However, they had no intention of letting Xie An off just because of that.

They would take the money and kill the people.

Otherwise, if they left someone alive to report them to the authorities afterward... it would undoubtedly cause a great deal of trouble.

"Catch."

Xie An tossed the five large silver ingots over in one motion.

A San excitedly raised his hand to catch them. The instant his hand touched the silver, a sharp whistle suddenly rang beside his ear.

"Whoosh!"

A sharp arrow came hurtling through the air. A San abruptly realized something was wrong and shouted in alarm. Acting on instinct, he reached out to seize the arrow, but it was too fast and carried too much force.

Although A San's hand caught the arrow, its powerful momentum allowed the arrowhead to slip through his palm. With a thunderous thunk, it pierced through his throat.

"Ghk... ghk..."

He opened and closed his mouth, wanting to say something. But the arrow had pierced his windpipe, and he could not draw breath no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he toppled stiffly to the ground. Only the acrid stench of blood spread through the autumn wind.

"A San!"

"Third Brother!"

Brother Wei and Wang Wu shouted in shock and rage.

They had spent half the day scouting the area, confirming that the two old men from the countryside had no armed retainers. They had taken them for two enormous fat sheep that could be kneaded and squeezed at will.

Yet they had never imagined that this old man would strike with such ruthless precision.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Brother Wei roared harshly, "You filthy hunter! Wang Wu, go butcher that old man surnamed Chen. I'll handle this old hunter."

Once their roles were clear, Wang Wu swung his blade at Chen He.

Brother Wei, meanwhile, charged Xie An with his blade raised. To avoid being hit by arrows, he did not advance in a straight line. Instead, he shifted left and right, weaving forward in alternating steps.

Whoosh!

Xie An drew his bow and fired. Because his archery was still far from polished, the arrow actually missed.

"..."

Xie An felt a little speechless and inwardly cursed Brother Wei's cunning. But he did not panic. He quickly assessed the situation before him: Brother Wei was less than ten meters away. In another breath, he would be upon him.

There was still one more chance to shoot.

Although Xie An felt he had nothing to fear from Brother Wei, he did not want to take any risks by engaging him in close combat. It would be best to shoot him dead before he got close.

Whoosh!

After swiftly taking aim, the second arrow shot out. The bowstring hummed, and the arrow shrieked through the air. In the blink of an eye, it struck with a clang, only to be knocked aside by Brother Wei's broadsword. He charged right up to Xie An and brought the blade viciously down toward his face.

Xie An had no time to complain about his rookie-level archery. He abruptly dropped onto the ground, pretending to look terrified and desperate.

"How dare a filthy hunter kill a disciple of the Giant Whale Gang? Go to hell!"

Seeing this, Brother Wei was overjoyed. He turned the blade and slashed viciously down at Xie An. At that moment, Brother Wei thought victory was already in his grasp. He felt little grief or fury over A San's death. Instead, he thought having one less person to split the money with was wonderful news. At the very least, he could visit the House of Pleasure a few more times to spend the night with a girl...

Before Brother Wei could finish imagining the delights of the House of Pleasure, he suddenly felt a sheet of pale dust scatter toward his face... Sand had gotten into his eyes. He could not see!

Not good...

Brother Wei immediately withdrew his blade and waved it wildly before him to protect himself.

"You fucking cheat... argh!"

A chill suddenly swept over the back of Brother Wei's head. Right after that, he could no longer speak and toppled stiffly to the ground. An arrow had pierced through the back of his head, scattering his brains across the ground and filling the air with a piercing, nauseating stench.

"I'm too old to enjoy charging straight into a frontal clash. Besides, when life and death are on the line, who cares whether a move is underhanded or aboveboard? I only wanted to kill you with zero risk."

Xie An had long since outgrown his reckless, combative youth. He certainly did not think showing weakness would somehow damage his dignity. He only wanted to secure a rock-solid victory. He only wanted to take him down with absolute certainty!

Just then, Chen He's cry for help came from the distance.

"Old Xie, save me!!"